Siege of Matsumoto (1545)

The Siege of Matsumoto (1545) was one of the first siege battles of the Sengoku Period. The Takeda daimyo Shingen Takeda and his younger brother Nobushige Takeda led an army of 424 Takeda troops in an invasion of Shinano Province to the north to defeat the army of Yoshikiyo Murakami of the Murakami clan, and took the castle at a heavy cost of 336 losses. Nevertheless, they defeated the Murakami clan and pacified Shinano.

Background
Following their failed invasion of Kai Province in the Battle of Kofu, the Murakami clan and their daimyo Yoshikiyo Murakami retreated back to their capital of Matsumoto Castle. Hirokado Hiraga and the remaining 62 Murakami troops after the battle of Kofu were hunted down by daimyo Shingen Takeda and his younger brother Nobushige Takeda's force of 437 troops, who lost only 13 dead in their victory against the Murakami. They proceeded to lay siege to the Murakami castle of Matsumoto before its defenses could increase; this meant that they suffered the opportunity cost of repleneshing their forces.

Siege
Despite the failure of the Takeda to replenish their army to its full strength, they resumed with their campaign and they laid siege to the castle with 424 troops. They faced 495 troops under the daimyo Yoshikiyo Murakami himself, and assaulted the castle with catapults and siege works. The Takeda captured the castle with 336 losses, a staggering amount, but all 495 Murakami soldiers were killed. Matsumoto Castle's fall was also the fall of the Murakami clan, and Yoshikiyo fled to join the Uesugi clan to the north. The Takeda victory led to the consolidation of their clan in their region, and they made alliances with the Uesugi and Hojo clans, other major families in the area.